"Ivar's Simple and Pared Down, #16. Ivar's place is sort of visually poetic, accomplishing so much with an extreme economy of means. It's beautiful, it's relaxing, it's inviting. I think if I lived there my life would be calmer and more focused. I think the less you have in your rooms the more you can focus on what goes on in them. Your family or vistors, your thoughts, your plans. Even the photos are excellent and have a real warmth and resonance they look like modern-day Vermeers."

2. Why you should be the champ?

"Since I'm a student and a renter, I faced some real limitations, including a small budget. But as everyone eventually discovers, limitations are actually opportunities, in a way making your job easier. Almost nothing came new from a store. As a result, my space is a collection of things from my childhood, from neighborhoods I used to live in and places I've visited. It's a place that's comfortable and it makes me happy. I look around it and I see me."

Maxwell left teaching in 2001 to start Apartment Therapy as a design business helping people to make their homes more beautiful, organized AND healthy. The website started up in 2004 with the help of his brother, Oliver.